This invention relates generally to vacuum attachments and, more particularly, to a vacuum attachment for cleaning refrigerator coils and for illuminating the cleaning area when desired.
Adequately cleaning dirt, dust, pet hair, etc. from refrigerator coils or other hard to reach crevices is very difficult and virtually impossible using conventional vacuum sweeper attachments. Various vacuum cleaner hose attachments have been proposed in the art for cleaning between walls and furniture, cleaning furniture cushions, and the like. Although assumably effective for their intended purposes, existing devices are not effective for cleaning refrigerator coils or other cleaning areas having extremely low visibility. Existing devices are also not suitable for cleaning narrow and crowded areas in which the cleaning tool cannot be easily reoriented without first removing the tool completely from the cleaning area.
Therefore, it is desirable to have a coil cleaning tool that may be extended into an area adjacent to the condenser coils of a refrigerator. Further, it is desirable to have a coil cleaning tool which can suction air from selected directions without reorienting the tool. It is also desirable to have a coil cleaning tool which can illuminate the area being cleaned.
A coil cleaning tool for attachment to a vacuum cleaner hose includes a flattened tubular housing having one end capable of attachment to the hose of a vacuum cleaner and another end defining an air intake opening. A light housing having a light emitting diode and battery is positioned atop the tubular housing midway between the ends thereof. The light housing includes a switch for selectively energizing the light so that an area to be cleaned, such as the condenser coils of a refrigerator, may be illuminated when needed. The tubular housing may also define auxiliary air intake openings on each side face thereof. A panel is slidably coupled to a side face for selectively covering a corresponding auxiliary opening. Therefore, appropriate air intake openings may be opened or closed for providing suction at a desired area without having to completely reorient the tubular housing.
Therefore, a general object of this invention is to provide a coil cleaning tool for attachment to a vacuum cleaner hose for cleaning refrigerator coils and other narrow crevices.
Another object of this invention is to provide a coil cleaning tool, as aforesaid, that includes an elongate, narrow construction for extending into an appliance or other narrow area to be cleaned.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a coil cleaning tool, as aforesaid, which selectively illuminates a cleaning area during use such that a user need not hold or position a flashlight.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a coil cleaning tool, as aforesaid, having multiple air intake openings that may be selectively opened for cleaning a desired area without having to reposition the cleaning tool.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example, embodiments of this invention.